Thanks for the prompt reply! I downloaded the 9.2 images today and started the process again. I did get past the point I was at yesterday - I boot from a floppy and then it recognizes the CD (Install1). Unfortunately....I then get this error message

error in exec of stage 2 :-(
trying to execute '/usr/bin/runinstall2' from the installation volume
the following error occurred
FATAL ERROR IN STAGE 1: I/O ERROR

I can't recover from this
You may reboot your system


_________________


The HD I am trying to convert still has Windows on there. Do I need to wipe the disk clean before the install?

Thanks again for the help


I continue to learn!

Hmmmmmmm...sorry you are running into problems...you shouldn't need to wipe the HD first. Mandrake should prompt and do that for you. I'll do some searching and see if I find an answer somewhere....are you able to boot from the CD itself?

I've heard some stories that people needed to format their HD first, and some needed to defrag first.....


This is from a different ng, but the user had the same issue:

"Hello,
Just wanted to say thank you for the support provided. I did get mandrake 9.2 installed.

I didn't have a cd burner so I used the hd.img to install. I found it was necessary to get the hd.img from the same place you download from. ISO buster was handy when downloading from the ISO. Downloading a separate hd.img file didn't work so well.

I had trouble with the hd install until I realized the install kept crapping out at the same place. That place was where it started looking for files located on *disk2* (a separate iso file). I found the best way was to combine the 3 disks in a single directory. once I did that the install from HD went fine. "

Are you using Mandrake 10 or 10.1. 10.1 gives you the choice of two kernels ( alt0 or alt1 ) by keying f1 then f2. Use alt1 for earlier version to get round no cdrom device detected or no floppy drivers problems. You can load the newer kernel later. You may have to key in ' alt1 noauto ' to get round the programme hanging on pcmcia detection. I've tried to load Mandrake onto an ancient desktop of similar spec. Not brilliant but it did work.

Loaded 10.1 onto an old Compaq deskpro Win98 with pentium III 600MHz processor with 128 RAM yesterday. Hassle free but had to erase disk first (don't compress Windows as this can really mess things up). It goes smoother than XP on Compaq pressario 2.8 MHz with 520 RAM. Only problem with 3 Com winmodem (as expected). Should be able to pick something usable out of an old machine (you can aquire these from the local dump if you're quick). I've got a system as good as or better than XP for a fiver on a machine nobody wanted.

The machine I have is a Toshiba Satellite Pro and one of the issues with that machine is that you cannot boot the machine from a CD. You have to boot from a floppy, that will give you access to the CD drive. The Mandrake 9.2 boot floppy image allows me to access the CD with no problem.

I think the issue must be related to the limited memory of the laptop. The laptop only has 16MB of ram. I may try to use another linux distribution that requires less memory.

I've tried to load linux on various old laptops without too much success. It's good fun but a bit like crossing the ocean in a rowing boat when you could take a plane instead. You will get to understand computers though.